The Polar Express

Last Tuesday we headed up to the North Carolina mountains to the Great Smoky Mountain Railway. Matt's parents were in town so we hit the road to go on the "Polar Express". Mackenzie was so excited! We were running a bit late after stopping in Asheville and making sure the kids had dinner, so we hurried through the mud and rain to make the train on time. As we were boarding we saw a beautiful rainbow and that was just the first sign of how wonderful our trip would be. Seeing Christmas through your children's eyes is such a wonderful thing and needless to say this trip was MAGIC!

Taking a minute to snuggle up to Granda

Dancing in the aisles to Christmas carols

Ethan's favorite part of our journey was the bell he got from Santa

Mackenzie was so shy until she saw Santa, she just had to tell him she REALLY wanted a microphone for Christmas so she can sing really loud!

Even the little guy was mesmerized by Santa

We took a minute from the hot chocolate and sweets for a family pic

The waiters read the kids the story of the Polar Express

We had the best time! As we traveled through the scenic mountains and darkness fell we traveled all the way to the North Pole where the kids got to see Santa's house and the North Pole Village. This was the perfect trip to get in the Holiday spirit. We hope to go back next year. When we got in the car Mackenzie said "Mom, I had the BEST time at the Polar Express"! Merry Christmas!!

Pilgrims and Indians

Mackenzie had her Thanksgiving school program last Monday. It was a special day because her Nana, Grandma and Grandpa were able to be there to see her sing. The kids were so cute!

1st Haircut

Ethan had his first big boy haircut this morning. He wasn't too happy about it but my car keys seemed to distract him until it was all over. I'm so sad he looks so much more like a little boy but I must admit it was time to say bye bye to the mullet :)

My Sweet Baby Boy is 1!!!

Ethan's Birthday celebration ended up stretching out over a couple of days. We postponed his party once because Mackenzie was sick and then his party took a back seat when my Mom had to have emergency gallbladder surgery. It was a hectic weekend to say the least. We let him open gifts periodically through the day on Friday and then had my Dad, Sister and Neice over for cake on Saturday.

The car in the middle of the table is the cake. Buttercream Bakehouse did a fantastic job. She even made a smash cake tire and a gas pump!

Sometimes the boxes are more fun than the gift!

I think one of his favorite toys was this car Mackenzie gave him, he pushed it all around the house for days

Ethan's one year update: He is such a happy, smiley baby. He is into EVERYTHING, I know I have said this before but truly there is no amount of baby proofing that can keep him from finding things to get into. He is in the 80% for height and 40% for weight. He is saying several words, Mama, Daddy, Nana, no no, wow, uh oh etc. I have tried switching him over to milk and he's not loving it so we are working on that. He may be my child that takes a bottle when he's 5 (just like Suri Cruise)! His favorite thing in the world is playing with his Sister. I can't imagine our lives without this little guy and it brings a tear to my eye to think I have a TODDLER....no that can't be right....he's my BABY!!!!

Halloween Part II

Halloween gets more and more fun each year as Mackenzie gets older. This year I decided to let HER choose what she wanted to dress up as. She was extremely indecisive for weeks and finally settled on a witch. Since Sophie was in agreement (of course they have to be the same thing) we got her witch gear together. They had a great time running door to door (arguing at each door about who got to ring the doorbell)! We also had a wonderful visit from Matt's Uncle Don and Aunt Cathy. They helped hand out candy at our house while we took the kids around the neighborhood.
Ethan came along for the ride too. He's the cutest little dragon I've ever seen in my life!!

This little bug was only in her costume for a short while. Our little pumpkin took a Halloween nap.

This pic is from my MOMS Club Halloween party. She had a great time running around like crazy with all the kids and painting pumpkins. She missed her school Halloween party because she was sick so I was glad she at least got to go to this one.